bird standoff

Since I started offering the birds home-made suet, it's been disappearing at the rate of one block every two days! The suet is a delicious mixture of bacon fat, meat fat, peanut butter, lard, sunflower seeds, corn meal, whole-grain flour, raisins, and whatever else I can think of. I love attracting every type of bird except the grackle (right) because they chase the other birds away, and if I'm honest, because they aren't nearly as pretty as a blue jay or a woodpecker.

This second picture is a starling, looking to muscle in on the suet supply. Contrary to what these pictures show, from my observations it's usually the starlings and grackles that win the intimidation game, and the bluejays and the other pretty birds are the ones scared off.

Yes, it's April 3, and yes, that is new snow you see in the background. It's been snowing for the past three days, about 15 cm in total, and we are back to a white world again. More snow is promised in a few days. Not sure spring is coming this year.